In The Passionate Teacher, Ron Fried describes the Game of School (GOS) as what happens when teachers and students forsake intellectual work and instead engage in their classes as rituals. Take this opportunity to consider this chapter in light of some of the the other experiences that you've had this semester to answer at least three of the following questions:
What elements of the game of school are you seeing in your placements?
In The Passionate Teacher, there is a quote describing the students understanding of the Game of School comparing school to a game, where school is a task they invest energy into and feelings into but at the end of the day its not real, its just a charade they play and master to get by and move onto the next stage of life like a board game. "Take it easy, it doesn't really matter, its only a game" and it is a game most of us master by day 1. Students never fully grasp the importance of the seemingly mindless busy work we ask them to do, they only see it s a means of passing the next test or quiz in order to move onto the next grade so that they can graduate an really do something with their lives. It is hard not to see this every time you step foot in the classroom, especially since for most of us, we too are still inept players of "the game". We are all players, even today, writing this I know what to write, how to write it in order to convey a response that is satisfying to you the reader/grader/teacher to get an "A" and to pass. In my practicums specifically, the game is played on an expert level, where students know who the smart/dedicated players are that will do the work and get it right and will share those answers with them so that they can copy and pass in the work. But in the mean time, while the other student is diligently working, these players, who have mastered the game are on their chrome books or phones doing whatever they like to pass the time while the other student does the assigned work.
What features can you plan into your units that might discourage the GOS?
The chapter states that the way schools conduct their day-to-day routines unknowingly makes it easy for both teachers and students to play the game. Teachers spend way too much valuable class time doing remedial tasks that have little to o with anything that matters or excites anyone in the classroom. Personalized instruction not just teaching to cover the curriculum but by expanding upon existing student knowledge and engaging in meaningful experiments that have visible real life applications and outcomes.
Finally, what impact will this description of the GOS have on your own approach to teaching as expressed in your teaching philosophy?
Ensure that at no point and time do I view school as something to get through so that the students get out because that is all school is every really about. I will never pretend to teach them so that my students pretend to learn as if they don't care the outcome they are just doing it to get through it. For students to put in more effort and quit the game of going through the motions I will be passionate about my teaching because that will spill over into my teaching, and my teaching will be purposeful and that purpose will be self evident to my students.I hope to believe that learning doesn't need to be held hostage by the game but instead it can outsmart the players and break through the boundaries to provide truly meaningful, lifelong instruction.
least three of the following questions:
- What elements of the game of school are you seeing in your placements?
In The Passionate Teacher, there is a quote describing the students understanding of the Game of School comparing school to a game, where school is a task they invest energy into and feelings into but at the end of the day its not real, its just a charade they play and master to get by and move onto the next stage of life like a board game. "Take it easy, it doesn't really matter, its only a game" and it is a game most of us master by day 1. Students never fully grasp the importance of the seemingly mindless busy work we ask them to do, they only see it s a means of passing the next test or quiz in order to move onto the next grade so that they can graduate an really do something with their lives. It is hard not to see this every time you step foot in the classroom, especially since for most of us, we too are still inept players of "the game". We are all players, even today, writing this I know what to write, how to write it in order to convey a response that is satisfying to you the reader/grader/teacher to get an "A" and to pass. In my practicums specifically, the game is played on an expert level, where students know who the smart/dedicated players are that will do the work and get it right and will share those answers with them so that they can copy and pass in the work. But in the mean time, while the other student is diligently working, these players, who have mastered the game are on their chrome books or phones doing whatever they like to pass the time while the other student does the assigned work.- What features can you plan into your units that might discourage the GOS?
The chapter states that the way schools conduct their day-to-day routines unknowingly makes it easy for both teachers and students to play the game. Teachers spend way too much valuable class time doing remedial tasks that have little to o with anything that matters or excites anyone in the classroom. Personalized instruction not just teaching to cover the curriculum but by expanding upon existing student knowledge and engaging in meaningful experiments that have visible real life applications and outcomes.- Finally, what impact will this description of the GOS have on your own approach to teaching as expressed in your teaching philosophy?
Ensure that at no point and time do I view school as something to get through so that the students get out because that is all school is every really about. I will never pretend to teach them so that my students pretend to learn as if they don't care the outcome they are just doing it to get through it. For students to put in more effort and quit the game of going through the motions I will be passionate about my teaching because that will spill over into my teaching, and my teaching will be purposeful and that purpose will be self evident to my students.I hope to believe that learning doesn't need to be held hostage by the game but instead it can outsmart the players and break through the boundaries to provide truly meaningful, lifelong instruction.